


the only thing you can be sure of

by ywhiterain



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 06:46:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26847637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ywhiterain/pseuds/ywhiterain
Summary: Tyler and Caroline catch a moment between Klaus hunting him and stalking her.
Relationships: Caroline Forbes/Tyler Lockwood
Comments: 5
Kudos: 8





	the only thing you can be sure of

**Author's Note:**

> I meant to post this literally years ago...

Caroline was twenty eight the next time she saw Tyler. She was shopping in Paris and Stefan was holding her bags and pretending they were heavy because he knew that made her laugh when he turned a corner. He was there. For a second, Caroline thought that lightening would strike and the world would break in two.

Because she'd spent ten years praying every single damn night that he was still alive and now she knew for sure and she wanted to rush over to him and kiss him until she forgot how to breathe. But Klaus was _always_ watching her and she knew that any second now he'd swoop in and kill Tyler and then Klaus would turn around with bloody hands and ask Caroline to thank him for this gift.

But she couldn't look away and he can't look away. And he looked exactly the same. Except his hair, which badly needed a trim. And he'd lost weight and it made her heart ache because Tyler was _running_ more than living and that's the last thing she'd ever wanted.

Stefan tapped her shoulder. "Go." Caroline hesitated. "Take a minute." Stefan gave her the crooked grin that still made her feel like he'd be able to protect her from everything. (He couldn't, she knew, so she left her phone with him so that Klaus couldn't track her with GPS.)

It was a minute and a blur. She wrapped her arms around him and began to cry. And his shoulders shook against her body. He was crying too. And that only made her cry harder. 

"I need to go," he whispered into her hair.

And there were so many things she wanted to tell him but the only thing she could think of was that she'd bought shoes in eighty countries and was planning to visit twenty more before the decade ended. It was stupid. But everything she'd done and seen and felt in the last decade had slipped from her mind and she didn't have _time_ to think. 

"I love you," she said and it wasn't enough.

But he pulled away just a few inches and stared at her. And then his face broke out in a smile and she laughed because he had the best smile. He pressed his lips against hers for just a second. "Until we find a way."

"Until we find a way," Caroline repeated to empty air.

He was gone.


End file.
